kindly looks
of Bladud went far to conciliate the uncertain, attract the friendly,
and alarm the savage, for it is a curious fact, explain it how we may,
that the union of immense physical power with childlike sweetness of
countenance, has a wonderful influence in cowing angry spirits. It may
be that strong, angry, blustering men are capable only of understanding
each other. When they meet with strong men with womanlike tenderness
they are puzzled, and puzzlement, we think, goes a long way to shake the
nerves even of the brave. At all events it is well known that a sudden
burst of wrath from one whose state of temper is usually serene, exerts
a surprising and powerful effect on average mankind.

Whatever be the truth as to these things, it is certain that nearly
every one who looked up at the face of Bladud liked him, and more than
once when his ponderous sword sprang from its sheath, and his blue eyes
flashed, and his fair face flushed, and his magnificent teeth went
together with a snap, he has been known to cause a dozen men to turn and
flee rather than encounter the shock of his onset.

Little Maikar, who was himself as brave as a lion, nearly lost his life
on one occasion, because he was so taken up and charmed with the sight
of one of Bladud's rushes, that he utterly forgot what he was about, and
would have been crushed by the smite of a savage club, if the captain
had not promptly turned aside the blow and struck the club-man down.

"At last!" exclaimed the prince, with a gaze of enthusiasm at the
opposite cliffs, "my native land! Well do I love it and well do I know
it, for I have stood on this shore and seen it from this very spot when
I was quite a boy."

"Indeed! How was that?" asked Arkal.

"I used to be fond of the sea, and was wont to travel far from my
father's home to reach it. I made friends with the fishermen, and used
to go off with them in their little skiffs. One day a storm arose
suddenly, blew us off shore, and, when we were yet a long distance from
this coast, overturned our skiff. What became of my companions I know
not. Probably they were drowned, for I never more saw them; but I swam
ashore, where I think I should have died of exhaustion if I had not been
picked up by an old fisherman of this land, who carried me to his hut
and took care of me. With the old man I remained several months, for
the fishermen on the two sides of the channel had been quarrelling at
the time, and the